Luffy's Journey to Become the King Again
by bigrc71
Summary: Luffy finally makes it to the end of the New World and to Raftel. He should be happy how things are going, but he really isn't as happy as he should be right now. While the crew is playing on the beach of Raftel, Luffy goes exploring in the cave that holds the One Piece. He comes across something that could change everything for better or worse.
1. Second Time Around Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I Do Not Own One Piece. It belongs to Eiichiro Oda. **

**I apologize in advance if you are getting sick of time travel stories. I have read some the stories on the site and gotten a rough idea of how I would this kind of story to turn out. So, I am going to tell my version. I have never been much of a writer but this should be fun none the less. So please Enjoy. Also comments and reviews are much appreciated. **

**I will be using Japanese terms for items and abilities in this story**

**Ex. Kairoseki as opposed to Sea stone; Haoshoku no Haki or Conqueror's Haki as opposed to Color of the Conqueror Haki**

Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates had done it. They had made it to the end of the New World and had found Raftel along with the One Piece. Along the way they faced many challenges and overcame many obstacles on their way to accomplishing a little more than half of their goals. With some more still to look forward to. Luffy had become the King of the Pirates, Zoro defeated Mihawk and became the World's Greatest Swordsman, Usopp became a brave man of the sea, Robin had learned of the true history of the world during the hundred year void, and Franky had built a ship that had taken him and his nakama to the end of the sea.

Of course some goals they just could not complete with one trip around the world. Nami still had many more islands to map as well as a majority of the four blues, Sanji had yet to find the All Blue but was confident he would find it someday, Chopper had yet to find a cure for all diseases but he was making a fair dent in the list with the herbs they had come across on some of the more unforgiving and uninhabitable islands of the New World, and as for Brook he was still waiting to see his old friend again after so many years, but he was happy watching his friends complete their goals the same nakama that had given him purpose again after all those years alone, adrift at sea.

Even with everything falling into place Luffy still wasn't quite as happy as he should be. He still missed Ace, he wished he could have been here with him to see his dream finally come to fruition. So while the crew was off enjoying the beach of Raftel, Luffy took it upon himself to explore the cave where the grand treasure, the One Piece was resting. Luffy followed the twisting caverns and made it into the treasure chamber. It was an enormous cave deep in the island well hidden, even though the island was tough enough to find on its own. Luffy began digging through the mountains of gold, silver, jewels and various other jewel encrusted items. Something caught his attention, he would have normally paid it no mind on any other day but today was different. He was thinking of things he wished he could change but had no power to do so. Not really giving it a second thought he picked up the lamp that reminded him of a story Usopp once told him, although he believed it was a lie the long nosed sniper had not been exactly the same after their two years apart. He took his hand back into the sleeve of his cardigan and began to clean off all the dust that had accumulated on it after 26 years or so of going untouched.

Luffy dropped the lamp and jumped back in surprise as a plume of smoke began to bellow out of the small opening in the front of the lamp. Much to his surprise as he stood there with stars in his eyes and with his mouth open wide a figure appeared. The figure was looked like any other person expect for the fact that he had no legs and he had a ghostly tail. Luffy was in awe at the sight before him. He stood there completely speechless which was weird for Luffy. After a few moments of awkward silence the ghostly being spoke.

"Thank you, you have freed me from my prison" Luffy still standing there like an idiot and didn't move.

"For freeing me from my prison after so much time, I would like to reward you." the ghostly figure spoke

"You have 3 wishes" the being kept going "There are things I can't do and I will make it clear to you if you have asked for something out side of my abilities." Luffy had been surprised at first but now was listening while picking his nose with his pinky.

"You idiot did you hear a single word I said" the being said in annoyed voice at his savior.

"Of course I was listening, I was just thinking" Luffy spoke

Skipping right to the point and being perfectly honest as he was known to be just blurted something out

"Can you bring someone back from the dead" Luffy said kind of hoping the answer would be yes.

"Unfortunately, I am unable to do that." Disappointed Luffy asked another question to the ghostly figure.

"Can you send me back in time?" the ghost had to think about how to answer for man in front of him was rather dim.

"Yes, Yes I can do that." Before Luffy could get another word in the ghost continued.

"But by doing so, by turning back the hands on the clock of the world there will only be so many important things that you can change if you choose to do so before this reality changes or ceases to exist being replaced by one that takes all of your changes into account."

Luffy wasn't sure what to make of this information that had just gone through his head. He tilted his head to the side showing his confusion. The ghostly figure was unsurprised by this turn of events.

"Ok, to make it simple for you the more of your own past you change the more this time will change." Luffy put his right fist on top of opened left palm as if emphasizing that he understood.

"So now that you have come to terms with the idea that this time will change I have two more questions for you"

"First, is there a specific time in your life you would like me to send you back to?" Before Luffy could get a word in the ghost began to speak again.

"Second, would you like to say goodbye to any of the people who I would presume are your friends outside enjoying themselves?" Luffy stood there contemplating just leaving his friends without a goodbye as he had never done that to anyone in the past anyway. The ghost then spoke up again.

"To do this I am going to have to dig through your memories and from those old memories I will be able to create a portal to the time of your choosing. I will give you some time to think about what you are going to do." Luffy now had a lot to think about. He knew that thinking about all this would make his head hurt. So he did the only logical thing he could do at the moment, he sat down on the ground, crossed his legs, covered his eyes with his infamous straw hat, crossed his arms and he fell asleep.

He fell asleep without any hesitation. The ghostly beings jaw fell open in disbelief at what he was seeing. While the ghost was just staring at the idiot in disbelief, Luffy had begun to think back to his childhood. He thought about when he had first eaten the Gomu Gomu no mi and the stupid bandits that made fun of his childhood idol Shanks. He thought about how Shanks lost his left arm protecting him from a sea king. He wondered how shanks would change had he not lost his arm so foolishly. He thought about how he believed he lost Sabo to that damn Celestial Dragon. He also thought about how happy the unexpected reunion between the two of them had been back in Dressrosa. He wasn't sure how things would turn out for Sabo if he saved him or prevented his boating 'accident'. He was the second in command of the Revolutionary Army only below Dragon himself. Luffy really had no idea how much Sabo had done to help his father with their mission of overthrowing the World Government. The thing Luffy knew at this point in his life was that Sabo turned out alright. He thought about how Sabo wasn't afraid to brag that he went toe to toe with an Admiral of the Navy, resulting in what seemed like a tie as neither side made any progress. He didn't want to ruin all his brother had accomplished by changing his fate and rolling the dice to see what would happen had he become a Pirate instead of a Revolutionary. With all of those memories floating around in his head, he suddenly woke and stood up much to the surprise of the ghost.

"I have one last question before you send me back." Luffy said looking up at the ghost.

"My body will change to what it was during this time right, but what about my strength and mind. What will become of those?" Luffy stood there waiting for a response to his rather intelligent and self-aware question. The ghost hovered there kind of surprised Luffy could come up with such a question. Thinking about the question the ghost had to pause for a moment before responding to Luffy.

After finding the right words the ghost spoke. "Your current mind will take the place of the mind that is in your body back then." Luffy was excited to hear this

"As for your strength I guess only time will tell." He wasn't pleased when he heard this.

"One more question. What about my scar, what will become of it." Luffy said very curiously wondering what the specter would say.

"Well it is tied to a traumatic event in your life, correct?" Luffy nodded his head, holding back the tears that often came around when he thought of the events that lead to Ace's death and well the rest was a blank after that as he didn't know what happened until weeks later when he awoke on Law's Sub in an alcove of Amazon Lily.

"Well, if you go back in time well before you received that scar it will not be there. But depending on how events turn out around the time you were to get that scar it is tough to say, you may get it, you may not." Luffy seemed to be ok with that answer.

"You seem to be ready to go are you sure you don't want to say goodbye." Luffy shook his head side to side.

"I don't want to worry them, besides what would they think if they knew I was doing something so reckless. It would be impossible to send us all back to the same place anyway as no one but me on the crew is from Fuusha Village, their minds would have nowhere to go. Besides they all have things they need to learn where they are from, what would happen to them if they suddenly found themselves in their younger bodies. Sure some would be glad having all their knowledge and skills from today. But knowing how things would go for them in the years to come. How would that change the present or the new future? What would they think of me? Sure some might be glad but I can only imagine what it would be like for Nami, Robin & Brook. I don't want them to have to relive painful memories, all that loneliness, all over again. Knowing that I willingly made them relive their painful pasts would be too much for me, too much for them, I don't want them to hate me for a decision I am going to make that will affect them all. It will be better for them if they just don't remember. I did this all once. I can make it better for them all a second time around."

The ghostly figure was amazed at the amount of thought that went into that statement.

'He cares so much for his for friends; he's putting so much thought into this.' The ghostly being thought to himself.

"All right, let's do this." Those words snapped the ghost out of his thoughts.

"So, when are you going?" The ghost said

"Just think about when you want to go and I will create a portal for you into the past."

"Ok, I am thinking about the time I want to go back to." Luffy said very confident with his decision.

"Well if you are sure you are ready, would you allow me to place my hands on your temples. Using your memories and my powers I be able will create a portal for you to go through into your past."

In just a matter of moments a portal opened up and Luffy could see into his own past. He saw Makino's Bar and he could see Shanks as well as himself as a seven year old. The ghostly being let go of Luffy's head and let him walk up to the portal.

"One last thing kid, if you make it make it back here let me know how it went. I am honestly curious about how you do a second time around. I am the only other being who will remember this even happened. This is goodbye for now Pirate King, Good luck on your journey through time."

"Thanks" was all Luffy said. He was a little surprised to hear that someone else would remember this.

Luffy walked into the portal knowing full well that when he woke up next he would be seven years old again. But Luffy took comfort in thinking that he gets to have all sorts of adventures with his friends all over again.

**Hope you enjoyed reading this. Again please comment and review. Thanks for taking the time to look at this. I am going to rate this T for now. I do like some of the LuNa and ZoRo stories on the site. But I am not sure if that is where I want to take the story yet, if at all.**


	2. Second Time Around Chapter 2

**AN: Of the Straw Hats who Luffy meets in the East Blue, who is your favorite?**

After walking through the portal Luffy found himself waking up in Makino's Bar. Much to his surprise he could sense people were looking at him. Shank's crew may be a bunch pirates but they have spent enough time with Luffy to get to know and worry about him. Luffy knew he would have to come with an excuse believable or not to get out of this situation.

With everyone looking at him he lifted his head off the counter, opened his mouth and said "Looks like I fell asleep"

With a resounding "No shit" from the whole crew

Makino shot the red haired captain a dirty look as if telling him to watch his language around a child.

Luffy didn't seem to care either way. He turned his head to the right and saw the box that contained his current/ past devil fruit 'man, this is going to be annoying' Luffy thought to himself.

Before Luffy could get in a word to his idol, the mountain bandits walked into the bar. Luffy really wanted to hit them for what they were about to do to Shanks. But he held back not really having any idea of whether or not his strength made the journey with him some 13 years back as his mind had. So he allowed the scene to play itself out.

"We are bandits, we're not here to destroy this bar"

"We need 10 barrels of sake." Higuma said

"We don't have any more sake available" Makino said in an apologetic tone

Shanks held up a bottle of sake for the bandit apologizing and asking if he would like this. The bandit just swung at the bottle and smashed it all over Shanks and the floor. Shanks went to pick up the pieces of broken glass on the floor. While Makino went to help, the bandit drew his sword and slashed a section of the bar. As soon as the bandits left Shanks broke out laughing followed by the rest of his crew. Only to be halted by a yelling Luffy.

'I understand why Shanks just laughed it off but he was still should have just beaten the guy up.' He thought to himself before speaking

"Why did you let them do that to you?"

"It's not really a big problem; it is just some spilt sake, nothing to get angry over."

Okay with that Luffy turned his attention to the box to the right of him while Shanks was talking with Makino. He sat down grabbed the devil fruit and took a rather large bite out of it. Shanks turned his attention to Luffy who was eating something. Shanks got up and yelled at the boy asking if he was eating the fruit in the box. Before Luffy knew what was going on he was upside down with his face on the floor.

'This feels right even if it is still real weird' Luffy thought.

Shanks then told him about the repercussions of eating the strange fruit even though Luffy knew exactly what he was getting himself into.

Later after Shanks and his crew left the bar and the bandits were now occupying the seats. Luffy ran his mouth off angering the bandits. Higuma took the kid outside and were going to deal with him as Makino and the Mayor showed up apologizing for what Luffy had said. The bandits didn't let him go and before they knew it Shanks and crew were standing behind the upset duo.

"I was wondering why no one was at the bar so we followed the noise to see what was going on"

Shanks walked around Makino and the mayor as Higuma was talking.

"If you come any closer, I'll blow your head off, coward."

The next thing Luffy heard was a bandit putting a pistol to Shanks's head and cocking the gun.

"He said not to come any closer or you'll get your head blown off." A nameless bandit said

The next words out of Shanks's mouth would stay with him for the rest of his life.

"Risk your life on it"

"What?"

"With that pistol, you will risk your life."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"This isn't a child's game"

Luffy loved hearing those words even though he was kind of in a predicament as his powers were still untested. Barely any time had passed before the sound of gun could be heard as the bandit who was holding his gun to Shank's head was shot dead by Lucky Roo. The next words out of Shank's mouth just made him respect the red haired pirate even more.

"I can have food or drinks spilled on me, or even be spit at and I'll laugh about it. However if for any reason you hurt a friend of mine… I won't forgive you!"

With those words Higuma ordered his men to attack Shanks and crew. But Benn Beckman the first mate of the Red Haired Pirated dispatched of the small fry in no time at all. This made Higuma nervous as he disappeared behind a smokescreen. Luffy noticed how an important time in his and Shank's lives was about to occur. The next thing he knew he was being held by his shirt over the edge of the boat the bandit then threw him into the water.

'The next few moments were going to be precious if I want to prevent Shanks from losing his arm.' Luffy thought as he was snapped back to reality thanks to the water around him and the King of the Coast coming out of the water and swallowing the foolish mountain bandit whole. The sea king who had just swallowed the bandit turned its attention to a struggling Luffy. The sea king began swimming towards Luffy. Luffy then sensed shanks holding onto him. At this point he knew he was going to be okay. So he put everything he had into a localized blast of his Haoshoku no Haki intimidating the large beast and sending it off swimming in another direction. Luffy had done it he prevented Shanks from losing his left arm to the beast. Shanks was surprised to say the least at this development as he sensed the might of this small boy. Shanks knew that only a select few were able to use the ability the young boy had just displayed.

"Luffy do you know what you just did?"

Feigning ignorance Luffy just played it off as if nothing happened even though he knew exactly what he had done.

"No, what did I do?" Luffy looked at him confused, even though he knew exactly what he had done.

"Ah, nevermind." 'If he is not aware of it yet there is no reason to push him for something he doesn't understand.' Shanks thought to himself

While Shanks was talking Luffy wondered how this would change Shanks future. When he saw Shanks again in his future he was able to beat him but only just so. He knew that doing this would give Shanks the upper hand in the future, and making their battle even more difficult. But he none the less would be ready when the time came. He had 13 years or so to train.

Shanks swam back to shore with Luffy. Neither person said a word but they didn't have to their expressions showed everything they were thinking. When they made it back to shore Makino, the mayor and Shanks crew greeted them. Shanks left Luffy with Makino as he went to talk with Yasopp, Benn & Lucky Roo.

"Something interesting happened while we were in the water" Shanks said

Benn was the first to speak up and ask what happened.

"Alright captain we give, what happened in the water."

"You may not believe me but Luffy used the Haoshoku no Haki and scared off a sea king. I am not sure if he knew what he was doing, But when I was swimming back to shore I could just tell that Luffy was real happy for some reason."

The three men looked at their captain with puzzled looks on their faces, as if trying to find out if he was kidding about what had happened. Seeing this reaction Shanks had no choice but to respond.

"I'm serious, Luffy used that Haki and sent the damn beast swimming away, terrified."

"I think he really might be destined for great things one day."

The three men continued to look at their captain, still not sure how to respond.

"Alright captain I believe you." His first mate responded.

"I guess we will just have to wait and see what Luffy does with his life in the future, for now we should get ready to leave. We have a long journey ahead of us."

"Man, hearing what you said captain and seeing Luffy makes me want to see my son again." Said Yasopp

"But I know being a pirate is dangerous even as well renowned as we are. I made a decision and I am going to stick to it." Said Yasopp

"Who knows, maybe if Luffy becomes a pirate maybe he will meet your son and convince him to join his crew, you have talked about him enough." Said Lucky Roo

"Shut up Lucky Roo, I don't talk about him that much." Yasopp responded kind of red

"Oh yes you do" The three men said

"Only while you are drunk which let's face it is kind of often." Shanks continued

"Ah, whatever. Don't we have to get ready to leave" Yasopp retorted

With that the four men started walking toward their ship where they would spend one more night before they left the next morning for their long voyage back to the New World.

The next morning Shanks's crew was loading up their ship with stuff they bought from the town. While they were doing this Luffy and Shanks were talking.

"You leaving?"

"Yeah, we have used this island as our base for about a year now. It's about time we got back to the sea."

"Will you miss us?'

"Yeah, but I am not going to ask to go with you anymore."

"I've decided I am going to become a pirate myself."

Shanks stuck his tongue out at Luffy before responding. "I wasn't going to take you with us either way."

"Like you could become a pirate."

Annoyed Luffy responded "I will"

"I'll gather my own crew that'll be strong enough to beat yours and find the world's greatest treasure."

"No matter what, I will become the King of the Pirates." Luffy yelled

"Oh, you are going to beat us…"

"Then, I'll let you take care of this hat."

Shanks took his straw hat off of his head and placed it on Luffy's.

"It's very important to me."

"Take good care of it"

Shanks and crew all on board, they began sailing away from Fuusha Village. The villagers were waving goodbye to Shanks and crew. The crew was waving back to the villagers who let them stay on the island for the better part of a year. Shanks thought to himself 'Someday, return it to me as a great pirate. It's a promise Luffy.'

Luffy looked up with tears in his eyes and watched as Shanks and crew sailed away. Soon the Red Haired Pirates were out of sight and the villagers returned to their daily lives. The only one who remained at the port was Luffy. He still had tears in his eyes, but they were for a different reason this time. He was thinking about his future and of all the adventures he was going to have with his friends. He was also very excited to see his to be infamous straw hat less tattered than it had been in his time. Although he did feel a little strange not seeing all the repair work Nami had done to the hat in his time. She did put a lot of care into repairing the hat for her idiot captain. Luffy made a vow to himself that he would try to take better care of the hat in the future. Finished thinking about what was to come, Luffy put the hat on his head and covered his eyes as he was known to do. While standing there with his hat covering his eyes a shadow appeared next to Luffy. It was an older version of himself with his red cardigan, yellow sash, blue shorts and his infamous hat in the same position. He raised his hat from his eyes and the shadow disappeared. Luffy turned to walk around and as he was walking back into the village he froze in horror. He had just remembered that his grandfather was going to be coming back to the island soon to take him up and live with Dadan and her group of mountain bandits. However there was reason to be hopeful as he was going to see his brother again.


	3. Second Time Around Chapter 3

Before long the day when Luffy would meet Ace again had come. He didn't like how his first encounter with Ace turned last time. He was hoping that he would be able to change it somehow. A little later Garp was walking up Mt. Corvo with Luffy's stretched out face in hand. It hurt just as much as last time but Luffy understood why it hurt him now. Garp wanted Luffy to become a great marine and Luffy still wanted to become the Pirate King. After hiking for some time Garp and Luffy made it to the mountain bandits hideout. Garp dropped Luffy on the ground and went to knock on the door. A very annoyed Dadan opened the door demanding to know who was knocking.

"It's Me" Garp said straight faced.

Dadan stumbled back and Dogra as well as Magra appeared from behind a curtain shocked to see who was standing in front of them. Garp got straight to the point as Luffy was running around like the child he had always been as well physically was now.

"Who is that kid" Magra asked

"My grandson" Garp said as serious as ever

"You are going to take care of him as well"

"What" The trio of mountain bandits replied

"Not happening" The trio said again

"Ok, then you have to make a decision. Either you go to prison for all of your crimes or you take care of him."

Luffy was running around and he felt something nasty hit him in the cheek.

"Who's there?" Luffy said even though he knew it was an irritated Ace who had done it. He did his best to hide his excitement seeing his brother again.

"Hey, you"

"Apologize! That's gross!"

Garp had stopped talking with the bandits and walked up behind Luffy who had found Ace.

"Luffy, this is Ace" Garp said

However Luffy already knew exactly who he was. Ace had spat in Luffy's face like last time. This time he didn't get as mad. After Garp introduced Ace he walked off to talk with the bandits again. Garp had decided that Luffy was going to stay with the mountain bandits and they knew there was nothing they could do or say to change his mind so they regretfully accepted. Garp told Luffy that he was going to be staying with the bandits. Luffy wiped the spit off of his face straightened his hat and walked into the mountain bandits' hideout. Bandits appeared and grabbed him and put a knife to his throat. The bandits began asking for money from him but he didn't have any.

"Call your parents and have them bring cash."

"I don't have any parents"

"I've only got my grandpa"

"Then call you grandpa"

"What's your gramps's name?"

"Garp-san" Dogra responded

The mountain bandits were shocked to hear this and all the more shocked when they learned that another kid was going to be staying with them. Dadan then walked in and dropped a huge plate full of meat on the floor.

"It's time for dinner"

The bandits rushed to get to the food before it was all gone. He dove into the madness but was unable to get any food due to his size. He missed out on the meat and was forced to eat only a bowl of rice for dinner. Luffy wasn't worried as he would be able to get his own food later.

"One bowl of rice and a glass of water a day"

"That is all I am giving you to eat"

"You'll have to raise yourself to be strong" Dadan said

"Alright" Luffy said

Dadan was shocked to say the least as she got her head stuck in the floor. That wasn't the answer she was expecting. All the while Ace had finished eating gotten up and left. Luffy got up and followed Ace out of the hideout knowing exactly where he was going. Ace made it to the top of a cliff standing next to a big tree. Luffy had made it to the bottom of the cliff and had gotten Ace's attention.

"I'm Luffy, I'm not angry that you spat on me anymore."

"It's nothing to get worked up about. Let's be friends."

"Are you going somewhere?" Luffy said this knowing exactly where Ace was going but feigning ignorance as Ace was still in a rotten mood. The next thing Luffy knew Ace had kicked down the tree that was standing next to him and sent it rolling down the cliff and down the hill he had just climbed up. Luffy panicked like he did last time this happened and let the tree follow him down the incline. Once he was far enough ahead of the tree he stopped, turned around and said.

"Busoshoku Koka" Luffy was surprised that this worked

"Buso Koka Gomu Gomu no Gatling" And without much delay Luffy began punching the tree causing it to shatter into fire wood.

Luffy avoided getting stuck between a rock cliff face and the tree this time around. By the time Luffy had made it back up the incline where he had seen Ace he was gone.

'Good, he wasn't there to see what I could do.' Luffy thought to himself

'With Ace likely off at Gray Terminal with Sabo I can test myself. I should see how much of my strength I still have.'

'I should be able to follow Ace much easier this time'

'Maybe I will be able to show them the basics of Haki?' Luffy thought

So with that Luffy abandoned his quest to catch up to Ace at least for the next few days and see how strong he was. Luffy walked off into the forest in some random direction as he would likely be able to find his way back to the bandit's hideout with his Kenbunshoku no Haki. After walking for a little while he stopped and figured that this would be as good a place as any to practice.

The first thing he tested was his Kenbunshoku no Haki. He had done as Rayleigh taught him and counted the number of strong animals on the mountain. Well he attempted to but there were far too many animals on the mountain. He also determined which animals were the strongest, but he didn't know if he could defeat them in his current state. He would need another person to test his skills any further. Stuck for now he moved on to his Busoshoku no Haki.

He thought about his body being covered in the black "armor". Instead of being completely covered he only managed to cover his fore arms and legs up to his knees. He wasn't as proficient in this as he had been. By the time the Straw Hats had made it to Raftel, Luffy had learned to control this Haki and cover his entire body in it. He had still needed work on protecting himself from blades cutting him but he was making progress. Satisfied with that for now he moved on to his Gear Second moves. He would hold off on Haoshoku no Haki and test that on a larger animal once he knew how he stacked up in terms of strength in case it didn't work as he had hoped.

Luffy moved on to Gear Second. He stood in his old stance before his training with Rayleigh. He pumped the blood in both of his legs a few times up into his body turning himself red and causing steam to radiate off of him. Luffy knew that his method of activating Gear Second would hurt his body but he hoped that this would be the only time he had to use it like this. Knowing that he still could do it he let it dissipate and tried it again like Rayleigh taught him. He focused on pumping his legs just enough to get the desired effect. It worked as he hoped it would and only his legs were red and emitting steam. In conjunction with his Gear Second he tried the only move he picked up from CP9.

He said Soru, kicked off the ground ten times or so in an instant and he disappeared and reappeared all over the forest. He was a little disappointed that he wasn't as fast as his twenty year old self but he couldn't expect to be that fast. His little body just wasn't as strong as it had been in the future. He continued to do this for a little while. After determining about how fast he was in comparison to how he had been he stopped jumping around the forest and went to go catch some food. Doing all this in succession had really tired his little body out. After spending two years on Rusukaina as well as his previous 10 years on Mt. Corvo Luffy had no problem getting food for himself. After Luffy finished his dinner he went back to the bandits' hideout where Ace was surprised to see him alive after he attacked him earlier.

The next morning Ace wandered off into the forest to go about his business. Luffy followed Ace out but went off into the forest in a completely different direction and did not bother chasing after Ace. After walking for a while Luffy found an area with lots of boulders to break. He figured these would be best to test his Buso infused Gear Second attacks. He began practicing and found that he was actually able to break many of the smaller boulders. He wanted to test his Gear Third techniques but he decided to hold off on those for a while.

"I am not nearly as strong as I was but this is pretty good for only being seven."

"I am just glad my body is able to take the strain I am putting on it. I will have to be careful using all of these techniques around people. I can't go showing off too much. What would happen if grandpa found out about what I could do?" Luffy sweat dropped at the thought of what Garp might do to him.

"Once I get to know Ace and Sabo again I should be able to go all out, maybe they will be impressed and want me to teach them?"

"Shit" Luffy said

"I guess I am going to have to figure out how to explain this to them. Starting out the same way Rayleigh taught me would work. This is going to be fun."

"I still can't believe I never beat them once as a kid."

"I should have an advantage for a while."

"Yosh, one more thing to try"

He began searching the jungle for a large animal. He had to find a larger animal he could practice on, or it really wouldn't be worth practicing right now. So he used his Kenbunshoku no Haki and found the closest large animal around. And to his surprise he sensed two people chasing after the beast. He figured it had to be Ace and Sabo. So he followed the three until he finally caught up with them. Ace and Sabo were attacking the animal but were having some trouble beating it. So Luffy being the idiot that he is just walked up and sat down on a rock behind the two boys who were attacking the animal.

"Yo" Luffy said

Ace turned and saw the younger boy just sitting on a rock.

"You?"

"What are you doing here?" Ace said

"Get out of here, run away it's dangerous" said Sabo

"You have to get out of here we are not going to protect you if this boar attacks you"

"Yeah, listen to him. We are having a problem beating this thing. There is no way you would stand a chance against it." Sabo said

"Ok, let's test that out shall we." Luffy said getting up off the rock; he was oozing confidence and excitement to finally get a chance to test this particular skill.

The boar had just been standing there since the boys had stopped attacking it to yell at this other little kid. Luffy began walking toward the boar, the next thing Ace and Sabo knew the boar had gone on the offensive and went to attack this littler boy who should be scared beyond words at this point. Well not today, not this little boy, not this idiot. The next thing Ace and Sabo saw stunned them. The little boy had managed to subdue the large boar without even touching it. The next thing out of the young boys' mouth shocked them just as much.

"Shishishi" Luffy laughed with a stupid grin on his face

"Wow, that worked really well" Luffy said

"What the" was all Ace and Sabo could say as again they were shocked by the little idiot in front of them.

He was grinning, eyes closed holding out his hand two fingers stuck up in the air in the shape of a V.

After Ace and Sabo snapped out of their stupor they looked at the boy. They then realized that they would have to do something about the boar or it might get up and attack them again.

'Will it attack us again?' Ace and Sabo thought

'Is the boar dead?'

'What did he even do?'

The two boys had way too many questions for that particular moment. Focusing back on the boar they decided to tie it up and they began to roast it. Once the boar was done cooking Ace and Sabo began to eat. They then remembered the boy who helped them catch their lunch; they were surprised to see the boy drooling at all the delicious meat in front of him.

"Come on over and have some lunch, you deserve that much" Sabo said

Ace wasn't too happy at the idea but without the other boy would they have been able to beat the boar? Ace began to think back at what he saw just a little while ago.

The boy covered his eyes, one hand on his straw hat tilted down and the other up in the air. All of a sudden Ace felt a strange chill run up his spine, this was nothing like he had ever experienced before. The next thing he knew the boar was down on the ground foaming at the mouth, presumably passed out unconscious.

"Yeah, thanks for sharing with me you two." Luffy wanted to use both their names but figured he would let them introduce themselves when they were ready, even though he already knew both of them.

Luffy began stuffing his face. Ace had gotten rather annoyed at the sight in front of him. So he spoke up hoping to get some answers.

"Alright, out with it. What the heck did you do to the boar?"

Luffy continued eating; this only annoyed Ace even more. Luffy swallowed the food he had in his mouth and began talking.

"I'm not going to tell you, baaaka" Luffy said sticking out his tongue knowing this would get Ace all riled up. Sabo saw this and figured the only way to diffuse the situation was to speak up.

"I'm Sabo, what's your name kid?"

"I'm Luffy, nice to meet you Sabo."

"Introduce yourself; it is the nice thing to do since we wouldn't be eating this without Luffy here." Sabo said to Ace

Ace still rather annoyed, introduced himself

"I'm Ace, nice to meet you Luffy."

"Nice to meet you Ace." Luffy said

"Now was that so hard, I tried introducing myself yesterday but didn't get any response. Instead you just spat on me, which still was gross by the way"

All Sabo could do was laugh at the response Ace got from the boy, but very quickly stopped as Ace glared at him.

The three boys continued eating until there was nothing left but bones.

"So what now?" Sabo said

Luffy spoke up before either boy could get a word out

"Thanks for lunch; I am going to get back to my training." Luffy said

Luffy got up and began to walk into the forest completely at random

'5..4..3..2..1..' Luffy thought to himself as if he knew the two boys wouldn't be able to resist trying to find out what this little boy was going to go do.

Ace and Sabo looked at each other. Ace had a rather annoyed look on his face while Sabo had a rather perplexed look on his face. However both boys nodded their heads and without saying a single word to each other, they had agreed that they wanted to know more about this rather strange and powerful little boy.

Just as Luffy finished counting down in his head, Ace and Sabo stood up.

"Wait a minute" Sabo said

"Yeah" Luffy said

"Can we come and see what your training is like." Sabo said

"Of course" Luffy said with a big stupid grin on his face.

Luffy stood in place waiting for Ace and Sabo to catch up to him before the three of them began walking into the forest.


	4. Second Time Around Chapter 4

Ace and Sabo had been following Luffy for a little over half an hour at this point before Ace spoke up.

"Alright, where are you taking us."

"Oh anywhere around here should be good." Luffy said

"I was just kind of curious about how long you two would go without saying anything." "Shishishi." Luffy laughed

The two boys nodded at each other and hit Luffy on the head, leaving two large welts.

"That hurt you jerks." Luffy yelled in pain

"Well you could have said something earlier" Ace and Sabo yelled

"Fine, whatever." Luffy said

"Are you two ready to begin?"

"Yeah" both boys said

"Alright, do you two have any idea what I used on the boar back there?"

"No idea." Ace and Sabo both said

"What I used on the boar back there was called Haoshoku no Haki."

"Haoshoku no Haki" they tilted their heads and the two looked at the third boy confused

"That is what it is called, but I guess it really isn't fair of me to start off with this technique."

"Why is that?" Sabo said intrigued

"Well it is very rare for a person to be able to use this type of Haki, I think the number was one in a million can use this. But I guess there is no real way to find out if that is accurate or not."

Two things from that statement shocked the boys. The idea that only one in a million people could use the Haoshoku no Haki and "this type of Haki" implying that there is probably more than one kind to learn.

"Can you teach us how to use that Haki?" Sabo said

"No" Luffy said very bluntly

"No, what do you mean No?"

"I can't teach it to you because it is not one that you can learn to use."

"You can only learn to control it once you become aware that you possess it."

After those words the two boys became a little disappointed in not being able to learn such a cool technique. But then Sabo asked Luffy another question.

"You said this type of Haki, right?"

Luffy shook his head up and down.

"How many types are there?"

"There are three types of Haki."

"Only three" Ace and Sabo said

"Yes, only three but once you become proficient at using one or both of the other types of Haki you will realize you don't need the Haoshoku no Haki."

"Ok then, so what are the other types of Haki called?" Sabo asked

"The three types of Haki are called Kenbunshoku no Haki, Busoshoku no Haki and the type you have seen before Haoshoku no Haki."

"Everyone has the potential to use the first two. People often end up training one over the other. Often times it is because they can't learn how to use the other one. If someone can use both, more often than not they will pick the one that will complement their own skills and try to use it to balance their weaknesses. If you can learn both you will certainly be a match for most any opponent you come across."

Ace and Sabo didn't say a word they only stood there thinking about what Luffy said.

"Wow, you know a lot about Haki" Sabo said

"Don't give me too much credit; I am just repeating what my Master told me."

"Who is this master of yours and where can we find him?" Ace said

"I would rather learn from the Master instead of the student." Ace said annoyed

"You want to know where he is." Luffy said

"Yeah" Ace and Sabo said in unison

"Honestly, I have no idea where he is" Luffy said grinning, rubbing the back of his head

Ace and Sabo looked at the boy then looked back at each other. They then proceeded to hit the boy over the head again.

"Why did you do that? I wasn't lying when I told you I don't know where he is"

"Even if you wanted to look for another person to teach you we would likely be out of luck here in the East Blue."

"What do you mean by that?" Ace said

"What I mean is that it would be nearly impossible to find someone else to teach you. Not just in the East Blue or the other three Blues but also the first half of the Grand Line. You would likely have to wait to get to the second half of the Grand Line before you find someone to teach you."

"Really, this ability is that uncommon here?" Sabo said

"I really don't know if it is true or not. I am only telling you what he told me."

"Now before we start there is one more thing I need to tell you about Haki. There really is only one way to make your Haki stronger."

"Haki is the spirit of the user manifest, the only way to strengthen it is to get stronger both mentally and physically."

"Does that make sense?"

"Kinda" Ace said

"You will see eventually"

After that the two boys looked at each other not exchanging any words. They then shifted their glare to Luffy signaling they were ready to begin.

"Alright, are you ready?"

"Yeah"

"Well then, where do we start?" Sabo said eager

"Both are hard to learn and will take years to master but I am sure you will be able to learn."

"Which one would you guys like to learn?"

"Does it matter which one we start with?" Ace said

"Not really, both are difficult."

"Well then how about we start with Kenbunshoku no Haki?" Sabo said

"That sounds good to me." Luffy said

"Before I start teaching you I want to show you what you will be able to do someday."

"Ace, I want you to attack me with all you've got."

"Alright" Ace said kind of confused

"As a bonus I am going to close my eyes."

"Seriously?"

"Actually, just to make it clear I am going to be blindfolded while you attack me."

"You have to be kidding me right." Ace said

Luffy pulled out a long piece of cloth from his pocket and tied it around his head, covering his eyes in the process.

"Ok Ace, whenever you are ready go ahead."

Ace took his metal pipe and began to swing it at Luffy to no avail. Luffy was not only able to dodge each and every attack Ace threw at him. Luffy then began to call out which way Ace was going to attack before he did it.

"Swinging down at the right side of my head"

Just as Luffy said that Ace began moving the way he predicted. Again he ducked out of the way to avoid the attack.

"Sabo, I want you to attack me as well." Luffy said while Ace was still attacking

"Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely"

"Alright"

"Sabo, let's give him everything we've got." Ace said confident that they would be able to hit him.

The two boys began attacking Luffy. Still neither one of them managed to hit the boy even a single time. The two boys kept attacking Luffy. After a while they had to stop as they were not making any progress and probably never would. At least not as they were.

"That is impressive." Sabo said

"I have to admit that would be very helpful in a fight." Ace said rather intrigued

"Ok, I think that is a good demonstration." Taking off the blindfold and holding it in his hand.

"So, who would like to go first?" Luffy asked the two boys

They looked at each other not really certain what was going to happen next. Reluctantly Ace stepped forward.

"I will go first."

"That sounds good to me." Luffy said

"Ok Ace, tie the blind fold around your head just like I had it."

Ace looked at him like he was crazy

"I mean you could do it without the blindfold but where is the fun in that."

"This training is meant to heighten your other senses."

"With enough training this Haki will allow you to sense the people around you, determine how strong an opponent is, as well as predict an opponent's moves like you have seen already."

"There is one other thing about this Haki before you start."

"Kenbunshoku no Haki will not make you any faster. You have to rely on your own speed to be able to actually evade an attack. If you are fast enough you may be able to defeat a user of this Haki even if they know how you are going to attack."

"After hearing all that what do you think Ace?" Sabo said

"I think it will be more effective to train with the blindfold on." Ace said reluctantly

Ace tied the blindfold around the back of his head and covered his eyes. After that the real fun for Luffy began.

"Ace, first thing I am going to do is have you spin around. Once you stop you are going to have to stand still before you begin walking around."

"Why would I do that?" Ace asked

"Because you are ok with your surroundings right now, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Ace said hesitantly

"Well for this you can't rely on your eyes. So being blindfolded and not knowing which direction you are facing will force you to use your other senses to compensate for your lack of sight."

Ok with that Ace spun around. After a minute or so of spinning Ace stopped and stood as still as he could. Once he wasn't dizzy anymore he began walking. Luffy went over to talk to Sabo and told him to walk around and find somewhere to stand. Luffy did the same as Ace was walking around. Once in position Luffy began to talk to Ace.

"Ace I want you to picture the forest in your head." Luffy said

"Ok" Ace said kind of annoyed.

"Now that you have at least a vague idea of the layout of the forest I want you to find Sabo."

"What the hell are you talking about, how am I supposed to do that."

"Listen for changes in the wind."

"Sabo will be standing in place and his body will be redirecting the wind."

"Sabo you have to be quiet for this to work. He has to find you without listening for your voice." Sabo nodded

After a while Ace had made very little progress in trying to find Sabo.

"Ok, we are going to try something else."

"Sabo come here, I need to talk to you."

Luffy and Sabo talked for a minute before they separated.

"Ok Ace, are you ready for part two?"

"Whatever" Ace said

"Sabo is going to be throwing rocks at you"

"He is going to be doing what now?"

"Yeah, believe it or not this works."

"You know it's this or you sit on the ground and I whack you with a stick"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ace said really annoyed.

"What, my master did this to me and look how I turned out."

"Luffy you might not be the best example." Sabo said sweatdropping

"Really"

"Whatever just do what you want." Ace said

"Let's begin"

Sabo began throwing rocks at Ace. All that was happening was that Ace was getting hit each and every time with the rocks. He was not making any progress which wasn't a surprise at this point. Luffy figured he had had enough for now. So he told Ace that they were done with this for now and that he could remove his blindfold. Ace complied and took off the blindfold.

"Wow that is really difficult." Ace said looking at the two boys

"Of course it is" Luffy said

"It takes a lot of training before you can really put it to use and even more before you can use it effectively in battle."

"But also sometimes, a really tough fight is what will awaken it. You just never know how or when it will make itself known. Or if it ever will at all."

That statement disappointed Ace and Sabo a little bit.

"Come on don't worry, I have no idea when it will make itself know to you." Luffy said trying to cheer the two boys up.

"If it makes you feel any better I can tell that each of you has at least one of the three Haki's lying dormant within you. I just am not good at telling which one it is. I haven't exactly run across a lot of people here who can use it."

That made the two boys cheer up quite a bit.

In reality Luffy knew exactly which forms of Haki the two older boys had lying dormant inside of them. Ace has Haoshouk no Haki and Sabo has Busoshoku no Haki. He wanted to know if he could teach them at least one of the others. He wasn't going to tell which one they had. They would have to discover it themselves.

"Alright then on to Busoshoku no Haki" Luffy said enthusiastically

"This time it is Sabo's turn." Luffy said excited to see what Sabo would do.

"Sounds good." Sabo said.

"Ok, this one is going to be difficult to explain so I think I am going to have to show you."

"Follow me, we need to find a big rock or something to break." Luffy said

After about ten minutes wandering in the jungle they came across a large boulder.

"For this I am going to need either a stick or one of the pipes you guys carry around." Luffy said

"Here you can use mine." Sabo said

"Thanks Sabo."

Luffy turned to look at both boys before beginning his explanation.

"This type of Haki is used to create "armor" around your body." Luffy explained

Ace and Sabo looked at Luffy confused. This was becoming the norm for him today but was to be expected when trying to explain something new to people who didn't understand the concept.

"Ok, it really is just easier to show you than explain" Luffy said before he began the demonstration.

"Busoshoku Koka" was all Luffy said before his forearm turned black

"Wow that is really cool." Ace and Sabo said rather impressed

"It gets cooler."

Luffy took the pipe in his hand and focused before only some of it turned black.

"Ah come on" Luffy said disappointed

"What happened" Sabo said curiously

"The whole pipe was supposed to turn black"

"I guess I still need to work on that." Luffy said kind of irritated

"Well, I guess that is out of the question for now. So instead I will show you another way." Luffy said grinning.

Luffy's arm changed back to normal.

Ace and Sabo sighed they were looking forward to something cool happening.

"Don't worry, what I am going to show you something that is equally as cool. Also it will help with something I have yet to explain."

Luffy got into a stance and began speaking

"Gomu Gomu no…" Luffy began saying as his arm stretched out behind him.

Ace and Sabo fell on their butts surprised at what they were seeing.

…Pistol" Luffy continued as his arm came flying back with incredible speed even for a seven year old.

When his fist made contact with the boulder there was a large visible crack in it. However the boys were not as shocked at the crack as they were shocked that Luffy could stretch his arm.

"What the hell was that?" The two boys said shocked in unison as they got up and dusted off their back sides.

"Oh, what do you mean? The stretching?" Luffy said rather nonchalantly

The two boys nodded their heads furiously waiting for an answer.

"Oh that is easy."

"I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi and now I am a rubber man." For emphasis Luffy said this while stretching his cheek beyond what is physically possible.

"The Gomu Gomu no mi, isn't that a Devil Fruit?" Sabo said

"I thought they were just a rumor" Ace said

"Nope they are very real and there are lots of them all over the world."

"They aren't super common around here but there are a lot of people with Devil Fruit abilities on the Grand Line."

"Speaking of Devil Fruit abilities, learning Busoshoku no Haki is the best way to counter a Devil Fruit users abilities."

"That is aside from actually figuring out a particular fruit user's weakness."

"You certainly know a lot about the world outside of the East Blue." Sabo said

"Yeah, my master liked to talk a lot." Not entirely true but Luffy couldn't tell them he was a time traveler and had already lived this before, albeit different this time around."

"So I have one more thing to show you." Luffy said

Ace and Sabo could only wait with anticipation. Their worlds have been changed considerably in the course of just a single day.

"Busoshoku Koka" said for the second time, hoping that this would go better than last time.

"Gomu Gomu no…" Luffy said as he stretched his arm far behind him.

"…Pistol" Luffy continued as his arm came flying back at the boulder.

This time when Luffy hit the boulder it didn't just crack, it broke apart into dozens of pieces. All Sabo and Ace could do was stare in awe at what they had just seen.

"That worked pretty well." Luffy said grinning

Before Ace and Sabo could get a word out Luffy spoke up and said something else.

"I thought I should mention something about this Haki."

"Not everyone uses this Haki like I do. More often than not people use this Haki and 'equip' it to their weapons making them harder and more effective."

"My master said that there is an island where all the people who live on it can use this type of Haki."

"He told me that this group of people can use this Haki and have a simple arrow penetrate into solid stone."

"This Haki stuff has so many uses it really is incredible." Sabo said

"Okay Sabo, your turn to try this."

"Actually, Since this is really something you have to do on your own, Ace you could probably try as well."

"I think you two might be better off right now trying to get a visible manifestation of this Haki just so you can see as you make progress."

"That makes as much sense as anything else I heard today." Sabo said

"I will try it that way." Ace and Sabo said simultaneously

Sabo and Ace both tried to manifest their Haki like Luffy. They kept attacking random objects in the forest trying to get it to work. They kept going for some time but with no success.

"Well that is enough for today." Luffy said

"This is not something that you can master over the course of a day."

"It could take you years to become really good at it." Luffy said

"I still need lots of work to get better, and I am already pretty good at it."

"Just remember somewhere out on the ocean there is someone who is better at this than you"

"That is fair I guess the world is a pretty big place." Sabo said

"Sabo why don't you come live with Ace and me?" Luffy said hopeful that he accepts

"What do you think Ace?" Sabo said

"Do whatever you want to do." Ace said

"Well then it looks like I am going to be staying with you two." Sabo said and Luffy smiled his big goofy grin.

"We should bring back something for dinner." Ace said

Luffy couldn't help but drool at the thought of meat for dinner.

After finding a large deer in the woods the three boys knocked it out and tied it up. They carried it back to the mountain bandits to cook up for dinner. Back at the bandits hideout the three boys began talking. There Luffy learned of Ace and Sabo's dream of becoming pirates.

"You guys want to become pirates as well?" Luffy asked already knowing the answer

"Of course pirates are the people with the most freedom in the world." Sabo said and Ace nodded his head agreeing.

"That's awesome, because I am going to be a pirate as well." Luffy said

"Wait you want to be a pirate?" Ace said kind of shocked

"Of course I want to be a pirate." Luffy said

"I made a promise to the pirate who gave me this hat."

"Speaking of, who was the pirate who gave you that hat?" Sabo asked curiously

"Akagami no Shanks" Luffy said proudly

"What" was all the boys could say after hearing that name

"What was the promise that you made with Shanks?"

Luffy took off his and said "I promised him that as a great pirate I would give him his hat back."

Ace and Sabo thought about that for a few moments. At first they weren't sure what to think of that promise. They thought it sounded stupid but the more the thought about it the more they understood the meaning of the promise. The simple task of finding Shanks would not be easy on its own but standing face to face with Akagami would mean that he would have to become as strong as one of the Yonko. The two boys finally understood the meaning behind those words. Just before they were able to say anything Luffy opened his mouth and they were shocked by what they heard.

"I'm going to become King of the Pirates" Luffy yelled at the top of his lungs.


	5. Second Time Around Chapter 5

Over the course of the next few months the three boys became the best of friends. They would spend their days learning Haki from Luffy. Or they would go to Gray Terminal disguised in a very cliché manner. They would wear a long trench coat and the three boys would sit on each other's shoulders. Every so often they would find something to sell in the Town Center. Other times they would go into restaurants wearing the trench coat, eat lots of food and run away before paying the bill. Over the course of those months the boys had built a secret base in the woods. They would often spend days away from the mountain bandit's hideout at a time. Eventually they moved out of the bandit's hideout and lived in their ship like base. They even built a look out high up in the tree. They also raised a pirate flag with the traditional crossbones minus the skull. In its place was a red A, blue S & yellow L in the center.

Over the course of their next trips into the Town Center to sell things they found to add to their pirate fund. While the three boys were walking around without the trench coat they happened to walk into Sabo's father, Outlook III. Later that afternoon the three boys were sitting under a tree on the coast looking out onto the ocean. Ace and Luffy had just found out that Sabo had been born into a noble family but did not like the life that had been planned for him.

"Ace!, Luffy!" Sabo stood up saying his friend's names

"The three of us have to set out to sea someday!"

"We'll get out of this country and be free!"

"I want to see the wide world, and write a book about what I saw!"

"If I have to study in preparation for the voyage, then that's no problem!"

"Let's get stronger, and become pirates!"

"I'd become one even if you didn't tell me to!" Ace said

"I will become a pirate, defeat everyone in my way and become known across the whole world!"

"That will be the proof that I lived!"

"I don't care if the world doesn't accept me…"

"No matter how much they hate me…"

"I'll become a great pirate and stand above everyone else!"

"I won't run from anyone, or lose to anyone!"

"I'll make sure the whole world knows my name even if it's through fear!"

"Well then…" Luffy ran up to the edge of the cliff and yelled out his dream

"I'm going to become King of the Pirates!"

Ace and Sabo were surprised that Luffy would still want to become the King of the Pirates.

"I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you Luffy!" Sabo said

"You know there is one problem about the three of us becoming pirates."

"We all want to be captain."

"I had not thought about that." Ace said

"I thought you would be my navigator Sabo."

"You guys can come with me on my ship!" Luffy said grinning

"No way" Ace and Sabo said simultaneously

Later in the woods the three boys were talking with three cups on a tree stump.

"We can decide our future later." Ace said

"The three of us might end up sailing on separate ships someday."

"Have you heard that when you exchange cups of sake, you become brothers?" Ace said while filling the three cups.

"When we become pirates, we might not be crewmates on the same ship but our bonds will keep us connected as brothers!"

"No matter where we are or what we do, our bond will not be broken!" Ace said picking up his cup.

"With this, starting today, we're brothers!" Ace said and the three boys brought their cups together.

One day after a storm while in Gray Terminal looking for wood to repair their hideout some pirates confronted Ace, Sabo and Luffy. The trio had put up a fight for a little while. But soon they had been grabbed which prevented them from fighting back. Outlook as well as some guards forced Sabo to go back to High Town with him or he would have his brothers killed. Even though Sabo had been learning from Luffy and practicing with Ace, their Haki still was nowhere where it had to be to defeat all of the people Outlook had brought with him to recover Sabo. Sabo begrudgingly agreed to return with his father as long as Ace and Luffy weren't hurt. After Sabo was gone the boys were alone and had a chance to talk.

"Luffy!"

"Why didn't we do anything to help Sabo?"

"What if we did beat up Sabo's dad, the guards and the pirates, what would stop them from bringing more people to fight us." Luffy said

"Sure we are stronger than all of them."

"But there is a limit, we are only kids" Luffy said knowing Ace is going to be mad at that response.

"Are you saying we can't handle them all?" Ace said furious at his little brother

"I'm saying we have to use our heads instead of just our muscles." Luffy said

During Luffy and Sabo's time reconnecting after everything was back to the way it should have been in Dressrosa, Sabo told Luffy about the night that was coming. Sabo told him how he met a man who turned out to be Dragon randomly in Edge Town after the fire was started in Gray Terminal. He told Luffy what he knew about ending up in Dragon's care after his ship was destroyed by the Tenryubito. Which wasn't much, Sabo told Luffy about the day he woke up in the infirmary of a ship covered in bandages. The person who had been looking after Sabo's wounds was a tall man with curly purple hair and a giant head, none other than the Okama Queen Ivankov. Iva told Sabo that he had been out for a few days after the explosion destroyed his boat and that they were heading for the Grand Line. He would later talk to Dragon who told him that he would be better off presumed dead for the time being and that he would be welcomed to join the Revolutionaries in their fight to change the world.

Sabo told Luffy that when he finally walked around on the boat he was surprised to see some familiar faces, he was shocked when he realized that they were from Gray Terminal. What Dragon didn't tell him was that he had saved most of the residents of Gray Terminal from dying in the fire. Sabo told Luffy that Bluejam was involved he really didn't know any of the details. What Sabo told Luffy next really pissed him off. Sabo told Luffy that all of the Nobles as well as the King up in High Town knew that there was going to be a fire. What Sabo told Luffy really made him hate nobility even more than he already did. Sabo said that they were going to be getting rid of all the trash for the Tenryubito's visit to Goa Kingdom.

The last thing Sabo told Luffy before the brothers departed from Dressrosa to go their separate ways for the time being was that he was glad things turned out this way. He would have rather become a pirate like Ace and Luffy but he did not regret his choice in becoming a Revolutionary. Luffy had a lot to think about but this was definitely the best path for Sabo. Luffy would have liked for Sabo to become a pirate but he had done so much good for the world even if the rest of the world didn't see it in the same light.

"Things are going to get very interesting around here and really soon." Luffy said cryptically

Ace hit him over the head

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ace screamed at his brother.

"Sabo can't be happy that he had to go back to his old life." Ace said angrily

"You are right about that Ace."

"Sabo isn't happy with what he had to do. But he did it to protect us."

Luffy could only hope that his interfering wouldn't change the past too much.

After the incident Bluejam the pirate captain hired by Outlook to find Sabo returned and began talking with the boys he had previously restrained. Being down a few men the pirate Bluejam wanted their help with a job. They really didn't have a choice. This fire had to happen whether Luffy liked it or not. The two boys agreed to help with the plan. It was easy all they had to do was carry boxes to various locations around Gray Terminal. Ace had no idea what was going on.

Luffy knew there was going to be a fire he had seen it already once before. After putting the pieces together something just clicked in his head after he remembered what Sabo had told him about Bluejam being involved somehow. He was furious when he realized what he had agreed to do. The boxes they were going to be carrying all around Gray Terminal would likely be full of explosives. They were going to be helping burn the place to the ground. Luffy kept his cool until the pirates and the boys had parted ways.

Once they were far enough away from Gray Terminal and back in the woods Luffy went ballistic. All Ace heard was the sound of trees shattering as they were being attacked by wave after wave of black fists. Ace knew that there had to be a reason for Luffy doing this. But he was going to have to let Luffy wear himself out. At his current level Ace was no match for Luffy when he was going all out like this. Almost an hour later the constant barrage on the trees and the landscape came to an end as Luffy fell down exhausted.

"Luffy, what's up?" Ace said concerned which was rare for him at this age.

All Ace heard out of Luffy was a constant heavy breathing, trying to catch his breath. While catching his breath Luffy was thinking that now would be as good a time as ever to tell Ace some of the details about himself and his future. He was also going to have to deal with a dumbfounded Ace as well as his reaction to telling him his brother was going to "die".

"Ace" Luffy said with his breathing finally under control and sitting up

"How do you think I got so good at Haki?" Luffy said not sure how Ace would respond

"You said you learned from your master, right?" Ace said confused

"That is right, but how old am I?" Luffy said

"How old are you?" Ace repeated the question confused

Before he could say anything Luffy spoke up.

"I am seven years old" Luffy said

"How do you think I am capable of using such advanced techniques?"

"Your master taught you."

"Yes, but when did he teach me?" Luffy said getting ready to tell Ace a little of his future.

"How the hell should I know?" Ace said annoyed at the questions

"Exactly, being seven years old I shouldn't know any of this. Yet here I am using the same forms of Haki Vice-Admirals and above use as well as the strongest pirates in the world."

"Is that true?" Ace asked rather surprised at where this conversation was going.

"Yeah it is" Luffy said

"When I first met you, you wanted nothing to do with me."

"The next day I show up and show you up. I reveal to you something that we have no business knowing here in the East Blue let alone at our ages."

Not sure where Luffy was going with this Ace sat down and let him continue.

"At first we hung out because you two wanted to learn from me, but the more time we spent together the closer we got. We even became brothers so that the sea wouldn't tear us apart someday when we set off on our own."

"In a matter of two days you learned about stuff it took me seventeen years to learn even existed."

"Luffy" Ace interrupted

"Wait, Did you say seventeen years?" Ace asked flabbergasted

"Yeah I did"

"Well that kinda makes sense."

"Sabo and I knew there was something different about you."

"We didn't know how to explain it."

"It was like you didn't quite belong here."

"You knew far too much about the world outside of the East Blue and Goa Kingdom."

"So tell me, how do you know about all of this?" Ace concluded

Kind of shocked that they could tell, Luffy began talking again

"I know so much about the world because I have lived this once before."

Ace looked at him dumbfounded, that was not the reason he believed was coming

"I made a wish to come back to this time to change a few things."

Ace couldn't believe what he was hearing

"You went back in time to change a few things?"

Ace said then thought to himself for a few moments before he began to ask Luffy questions

"When are you from? Why would you do something so crazy? Why would you give up everything you have worked for up to that point and simply throw it all away? What did you lose that made you want to come back to this time?"

"I expected you to have questions, so I will answer them the best that I can."

"I am from thirteen years in the future."

"I did this because I wasn't happy in my time."

"I gave up everything because I believe that I can do it all again, this time I will be stronger so that I can protect those close to me."

"Someone very close to me"

The first answer shocked Ace. The second answer was very straight forward typical Luffy. The third answer surprised Ace. The final answer was mysterious but Ace could see the hurt in his eyes when he said those words.

"Thirteen years"

"Someone very close to you"

"In your future you are what, twenty years old?" Ace asked

"Yeah, that is right" Luffy said

"What is my future like?" Ace asked curiously

"What you want me to spoil it for you?" Luffy said trying to hold back the tears that were forcing their way to the surface when he thought about Ace's death.

Ace noticed that something was wrong and dropped the subject knowing that it must be a very personal one, something he didn't like talking about. Luffy was relieved for the time being.

"Ace" Luffy said no longer trying to hide the fact he was getting upset.

"There are things I will tell you when the time is right."

"What you do with that information is up to you" Luffy said

"Well, when do you plan on telling me?"

"Like I said, when the time is right I will tell you."

"So you know what is going to happen here in the next few days?"

"Yes, I do."

"That is why I was destroying the forest; I still don't know what the right thing to do is."

"Alright then, tell me what is going to happen here in the next few days." Ace asked genuinely curious about knowing how the problem with Sabo would turn out. He was not ready for what he was about to hear. He soon would understand why Luffy went on that rampage.

"Tomorrow we are going to carry out Bluejam's plan and we are going to be moving crates of explosives that will be ignited tomorrow night. The fire from all of those explosives is going to engulf Gray Terminal and it will burn to the ground."

"Come on Luffy, that isn't funny." Ace said

"Don't go making stuff up just cause you think I will believe it." Ace said annoyed and worried that the words out his brother's mouth were nothing but a lie.

Ace looked at Luffy whose expression hadn't changed in the slightest since he mentioned Bluejam and Gray Terminal burning.

"As much as I wish I was lying this is the truth. This is really going to happen."

"That is the reason Sabo's dad came to get him. He didn't want his son to die."

"Well that is almost nice of him." Ace said trying to find a positive in the matter at hand

"All of the Nobles as well as the King know that Gray Terminal is going to burn."

"They planned it themselves." Luffy said really pissed off

"They are getting a pirate like Bluejam to this start the fire so that they can place the blame on him and keep their hands clean."

"They are getting rid of all the "trash" in the kingdom." A friend told me all about it last year.

Ace looked shocked and disgusted that somebody would do that to another person.

"They are doing all of this to impress a Tenryubito."

"What is a Tenryubito?" Ace asked curiously but being careful as this seemed to another touchy subject.

"The short version is that a Tenryubito or World Noble sees all the people of the world as less than human. They think we are here to do with as they please." Luffy said his temper rising

"On the Grand Line right now people are being kidnapped and they are being sold off as slaves to the Tenryubito."

"The government just looks the other way, they pretend not to notice that on a certain "island" at the end of the first half of the Grand Line there are Human shops all over the island."

"You can't do anything to these bastards. If you do anything to them the government sends an Admiral after you."

Luffy stopped there; he could see Ace was even more disgusted at those "people" than he was at the nobility of this country.

"All of this is going to happen and we are going to be a part of it, we are going to help?" Ace said disgusted in what he had unknowingly agreed to.

"Yes, that is true." Luffy said rather emotion less and disgusted in himself for helping with this cruel plan

"However there is a bit of a silver lining to this." Luffy said, the hope returning to his face

"That friend who told me that the Nobles knew all about this."

"He was told by the survivors that when they were stuck with nowhere left to go a strange wind created a path for them to follow to a ship that would get them to safety."

"We really have no idea how many people live here, as horrible as it sounds there will be people who will not survive tomorrow night."

"This friend of mine is going to play a part in the events that unfold tomorrow night."

"Luffy, who is this friend of yours?"

"He has to live in this country or he would not be able to play the part you said he is going to."

"You wouldn't like it if I told you who it was." Luffy said looking down at the ground

From that Ace had a terrible feeling he knew who it was.

"Luffy, don't tell me it's Sabo."

Luffy continued to look down at the ground while trying to avoid eye contact with Ace. That was all Ace needed to confirm his worst fears.

"The three of us are all going to be involved aren't we?" Ace said rather calm for what he had just heard

Luffy just shook his head up and down

"Is that why we had to let Sabo go with his father?" Ace asked

"Yeah" Luffy said

"I don't know what would happen to us or him if he hadn't gone with his father."

"We are all going to make it through this no matter how bad it seems."

"However I am sure you are going to hate me for my decisions later." Luffy said cryptically we will have to see how things play out.

With that the boys went back to their hideout to get as much sleep as they could. They weren't going to sleep well tonight with all of the things that were going to happen tomorrow.

Well the next morning came and things had stayed relatively the same, aside from Luffy telling Ace about what was going to happen later in the day. Like last time they helped move the crates around Gray Terminal. Unbeknownst to Luffy, Sabo's night had stayed exactly the same as last time. Luffy and Ace hated not being able to help their brother. However their best chance for things to turn out like last time was to follow as close to the plan as they could. They didn't tell any of the residents nor did they make it apparent to Bluejam's crew that they knew what they were moving for them. Everything had gone according to plan.

Later that night the fire started and the giant gate that connected Gray Terminal to Edge Town was closed preventing the "trash" from making their way into the city. It also technically prevented the gigantic inferno from spreading further into the kingdom. As far as Luffy knew the whole tragedy had been duplicated. He really wouldn't find out about the people from Gray Terminal until he hopefully met up with Sabo again someday. It may or may not be in Dressrosa since both brothers unknowingly showed up to win Aces fruit that had reappeared after his death. He could only hope that the weapons Doflamingo was selling would be enough for him to see Sabo again.

Luffy knew that he had to prevent himself and Ace from getting captured by Bluejam and crew. So they got out of Gray Terminal as the fire had started to spread. They made it back to the mountain bandits hideout before Dadan did anything foolish and went looking for them like last time. This meant that Ace wouldn't discover his Haoshoku no Haki yet but Luffy knew he would find some other way to help him draw it out.

The few days before the Tenryubito's arrival passed and they had not heard anything from their brother. Luffy figured that the next time they would hear from Sabo would be in the letter he is going to send or in 12 years in Dressrosa, It would probably be no sooner than that.

Finally the day arrived when the Tenryubito would arrive at Goa Kingdom. Luffy had gotten up early to make sure he made it to the port Sabo told him he left from. There he saw all of the people eagerly awaiting the arrival of the "people" he hated so much. Luffy pretended not to notice that Ace had followed him to the port.

Finally the Tenryubito's ship was in sight. Everyone was surprised to see a ship sailing out into the open ocean. Ace and Luffy were now standing side by side as Ace knew he couldn't hide his presence from Luffy. They were surprised to see the officials making such a big deal out of such a small vessel going out to sea. They tried all they could to get the ship to turn back but to no avail. The people were just worried about the little ship ruining the ceremony.

The next thing that happened made everyone cringe. A shot was fired from the government ship crippling the small fishing vessel and setting it on fire. Not long after a second shot was fired from the huge government ship. This shot destroyed the boat leaving it in large chunks floating in the ocean. The next thing Ace and Luffy heard disgusted them. All the people were worried about was the Tenryubito would be angry. Nobody cared about the wreckage of the ship the small boy was on.

"Luffy, don't tell me."

"Was Sabo on that ship?" Ace asked fearing the worst.

"Yeah, he was the one sailing out to sea." Luffy replied ready for whatever Ace was going to throw his way.

"This next answer is going to determine what I do next Luffy."

"So tell me, do you sense Sabo among the wreckage?"

Luffy stood still as he searched the waters around the wreckage. The next words out of his mouth would be some of the most important he would say for years to come.

Luffy stood there with tears in his eyes as he replied to Ace. Ace saw the tears and feared the worst. But he was glad when heard words finally come out of the younger boys mouth. "He is alive." That was all he said as he began crying tears of joy. Last time he had to rely on Dogra for the news that Sabo's boat had been destroyed by a Tenryubito. He was glad that he was able to see it first-hand this time.

They stood there for a while as the crowd died down and eventually disappeared. They stayed in that spot monitoring an unconscious Sabo. Hours passed neither boy saying a word. Finally day turned into night and as they were getting ready to leave they felt a strong wind propel a small rowboat across the water, pick something up and take off. All the while Luffy had been using his Kenbunshoku no Haki. He had sensed someone familiar. He still had not gotten the chance to get to know his dad but he had finally met him on an island somewhere half way through the New World. After the boys saw the boat appear and vanish Luffy finally spoke up.

"Ace, Sabo is going to be ok."

"Are you sure Luffy?" Ace asked full of hope

"I sensed two people in the boat that disappeared."

"One was an unconscious Sabo and the other was my dad."

"Your dad?" Ace said very confused

"Not here Ace, Let's go."

"Since when did you think you could boss me around?"

"Whatever, we need to get out of here."

After the two boys made it a safe distance into the forest they began talking.

"Ok Luffy, tell me who that was?"

"Who picked up Sabo?"

"His name is Dragon."

"He is my dad."

"I will tell you more someday, I don't think he has made a name for himself yet."

"Someday that name will be known around the world." That was the last thing the boy said before they started to head back to the mountain bandits hideout.

On the way back Luffy was thinking

'Sabo was safe and sound with Dragon. I hope that this was for the best? I knew that Sabo had worked hard and accomplished a lot after his boat was destroyed by that Tenryubito the first time. I only hope things turn out as well this time around for him. It would have been amazing to see what he would have done as a pirate but I wouldn't feel comfortable changing the future that much.' Luffy thought to himself

"Luffy" Ace spoke up

"Did Sabo become a pirate the first time?" Ace asked trying to find the right words. Time travel was a pain to ask about.

"No, he didn't become a pirate" Luffy said

"So, what did he end up doing?" Ace asked curious about how his brother would turn out

"He ended up following my dad and made a name for himself that way."

"Do you know about any of the adventures he went on?" Ace asked

"I know only about one because I was there with him, we didn't have time to catch up and exchange stories about the adventures he went on." Luffy said

"Could you tell me about the adventure you went on with Sabo?"

"What I can tell you is that we stopped a weapon smuggler and returned the rightful king to his thrown."

"I thought you hated kings."

"I don't like rulers who hurt their people."

"This king was kind to his people."

"He is only of a few kings who really deserve to be where he is."

"Don't worry Ace, Sabo is going to become a great fighter under Dragon"

Luffy said trying to change the subject.

"We have to improve your skills in Haki."

"We promised Sabo that we would set out on our seventeenth birthday's right?"

"We have seven years. That is plenty of time for you to improve considerably."

"I have ten more years. This is going to be fun."

The next morning the two boys began to spar. Luffy didn't use his full strength at first. But soon he realized that Ace would be better off sparring against someone stronger than himself. After a year Ace had learned that he had the Haoshoku no Haki. He still had a ways to go before he could really control it and use it near any people. The boys continued on training for six more years after that. During that time Ace had learned to use Busoshoku no Haki and he was pretty good at it. He still couldn't figure out how to use Kenbunshoku no Haki. During those years Garp would irregularly drop in to see how his grandson and adoptive grandson were doing. He would train the two boys when he had time off. Ace and Luffy did their best to hide their Haki training from Garp. However after a few trips Garp had discovered that they learned to use Haki. He did really care how they learned it. With Luffy and Aces understanding of Haki Garp's "training" sessions got harder. All in all he was glad to see his grandsons learning Haki so young. He still believed that they would be fine Marines someday.

During their seven years they would go into the mountains and hunt for food. Only one of the boys had to go and get food but the other would still tag along to help carry back the animals they had killed. They would still go to Gray Terminal every once and a while to find things to sell. They would still go into town and dine and dash as they did when they were kids. Only now the two growing teens would eat so much some places were forced to close for the rest of the day or sometimes even the rest of the week.

Finally after Aces seventeenth birthday it was time for him to set off and see the world. Luffy had told him stories about his travels as a pirate, omitting the fact that he found the One Piece and became the Pirate King in his time. As Garp had brought Ace to Mt. Corvo in secret seventeen years ago he couldn't leave from the main harbor on the coast. Ace and Luffy had one final talk in the woods before he set off on his journey.

"Ace, one last thing before you go." Luffy said trying to warn his brother about the very person who would cause him so much pain.

"Yeah, what is that Luffy?"

"Watch out for Marshall D. Teach he also calls himself Blackbeard."

"I will, thanks Luffy"

"I am serious Ace, he is trouble. He may not seem like it but he is just biding his time. A good friend of mine told me all about him."

Luffy was talking about Marco and some of the other Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates. Luffy became good friends with them after they met up in the New World just by accident on the island where Ace's and Whitebeard's graves were located.

"Alright Luffy I will be careful around him."

"But I can't be too careful we are pirates after all."

"That's all I ask as I can't tell you all the details."

Ace and Luffy finished their conversation and walked over to the cliff where a boat was ready for Ace. Ace climbed down into the boat and got ready to leave.

"Take care, Ace"

"Sure! See you later, Luffy! I'll be going on Ahead!"

"Right! And when I set out to sea myself in three years, I'll be much stronger"

"Nihahaha" Ace laughed and pushed the boat away from the cliff face

As Ace was sailing away the bandits and Makino were waving goodbye. Woop Slap was there as well but he was just standing there grouchy.

"Just you wait! I'll make a name for myself real soon!"

With those words Ace set off from the coast at the base of Mt. Corvo.


	6. Second Time Around Chapter 6

**So this chapter was originally split in two. But I figured that it would better as a whole. **

Early in the morning three years after Ace left on his journey it was finally Luffy's turn to begin his journey, again. Luffy was getting ready to leave Foosha Village. But before he left he went to say thank you to the bandits who had looked after him for ten years. A little while later Luffy went down to the docks and got on the boat that would begin his adventure all over again after ten more years of waiting. Once more he was seventeen years old, but this time he had the knowledge of his twenty year old self. He hoped that his friends would come along on this journey of his again one more time.

As Luffy set off from Foosha Village he waved goodbye to the people who were there to wish him luck. Not long after leaving the dock Luffy encountered the King of the Coast. Just like last time he defeated the King of the Coast with a single punch. After defeating the sea king and journeying into the wide open ocean he began to wonder about his crew. He began to wonder about the crew he left behind on Raftel. He also wondered about the crewmates he has yet to meet this time. He thought about the friends he would have the pleasure of getting to know all over again.

He knew that his friends wouldn't remember their time together and he had come to accept that. He would be starting from scratch just like his first time through. However this time knowing about all the people he had grown so close to he figured it would be easier to convince them to join. He knew that he would have to hold back a little bit while fighting some of his old adversaries of the East Blue and early on in the Grand Line. He figured he might not get a real challenge until he fights Rob Lucci of CP9. Those names still made him cringe. Just thinking about what the government put Robin through made him furious.

He was glad that his friends wouldn't know about what he had done in order to save the brother that he admired so much. He was glad that even though his friends had to go through their ordeals all over again, he took a strange comfort in knowing that they didn't know they had to go through it for a second time.

Now as Luffy begins his journey again, we take a step back into the past ten years or the future four years or so however you want to look at it. Either way this is just after Luffy had made his request of the ghostly figure inside the lamp to be sent back into his own past and disappeared.

"Has anyone seen Luffy?" Usopp said

"No, haven't seen him for a little while now." Sanji said taking a drag of his cigarette

"It has been quiet for a while now." Nami said

"What kind of trouble could he have gotten himself into?" Nami asked a little concerned

"We have nothing to worry about we are the only ones on this island." Robin said

"I saw him go into the cave a while ago, but he never came back out." Zoro said taking a drink of sake

"Why didn't you say so sooner baka marimo."

"Shut up ero cook."

The two began fighting like usual. And like usual it was ended just as quickly. Nami stopped the idiots like she does all the time by just hitting them on their heads leaving large bumps.

"Well since we know where he is, let's go look for him." Nami said

"Should we split up into groups?" Franky asked

"We shouldn't have to but it may be a good idea once we get inside the cave" Robin said

"The Sunny should be safe." Nami said directed at Franky

"Do you think we should go get some baby Den Den Mushi?" Usopp asked

"That is not a bad idea but, I don't think we will need them."

"Should I go get some rope for the stray marimo so he doesn't get lost?" Sanji asked

"I don't get lost."

"Of course you don't." everyone said sarcastically

"We will make sure Zoro doesn't get lost" Usopp and Chopper said volunteering

"Fine" Nami said

"Well, are we all ready to start looking?" Nami asked

"Yeah" Everyone yelled

The Straw Hat Pirates headed for the cave where the One Piece was resting. They followed the twisting caverns and made it into the treasure chamber without losing anyone specifically Zoro. They were still amazed by the mountains of gold, silver, and jewels.

"Let's split up and look around. Meet back here in thirty minutes." Nami said

They split up into groups of two and began looking around. Nami went with Robin, Zoro with Brook, Franky with Sanji, finally Usopp with Chopper. After looking around for a little while Usopp and Chopper came across a mysterious lamp. Unfortunately the other six straw hats came up empty. They found plenty of interesting jewel encrusted objects, just nothing indicating where their idiot captain went. Six of the Straw Hats regrouped near the entrance to the cavern after the allotted time. However Usopp and Chopper didn't make it back in the thirty minutes. The six Straw Hats went looking for their friends and they were surprised to find Chopper and Usopp sitting on the floor talking about what they found.

"I can't believe it." Chopper said

"I know right, it looks just like the lamp from that story book." Usopp said.

The six remaining Straw Hats interrupted Usopp and Chopper's conversation.

"Why are you guys just sitting there talking?" Nami asked the two annoyed

Usopp stood up and showed the lamp to the rest of the crew.

"What are we looking at Usopp-san?" Brook asked

"Do you guys remember that story book I showed you a while back about the ghost trapped in the lamp that grants wishes?" Usopp said

"Yeah, what's your point?" Sanji asked

"Well I think we just found it." Chopper said

"Are you saying that you think that this is the lamp from that story?" Robin asked

"Yeah, I do." Usopp said very sure of himself.

"You know that story is just based on a legend." Nami said

"Well aren't all legends based in at least some truth?" Usopp asked looking at Brook

"What, you mean me Yohohoho?"

"You did spend fifty years in the Florian Triangle." Franky said

"That is more than enough time for legends to spread." Robin said

"Well I guess there is only one way to find out if it is real or not." Usopp said

He began to rub the lamp. At first nothing happened. However after a few moments smoke started flowing out of the front of the lamp. Soon a ghostly figure hovered in front of them.

"You can't be serious." They all yelled, surprised to say the least

"I can't believe it's true." Zoro said his one good eye wide open.

"Thank you for freeing me from my lamp." The ghostly being said

The ghost looked around and got a familiar feeling, the people before him were the same people he sensed on the beach earlier today enjoying themselves.

"Oh my, are you the nakama of that Straw Hat boy?"

"We are, but how did you know that?" Nami asked

"I may have been trapped in that lamp, but I can still sense the people around the island."

"You are the first people to set foot on this island in two and a half decades or so."

"Well on to the matter at hand." The ghostly being said

"I assume since you rubbed my lamp you are looking for your friend?"

"Is that correct?"

"Yeah, that's right" Zoro said

"Well, I guess nothing has changed yet."

"What are you talking about?" A confused Sanji asked

"Do you know where our captain went?" Chopper asked concerned.

"Of course I know where he went, however it is more accurate to say I know what time went to." The ghostly being said

"what time he went to?" Said the straw hat crew

"Yes, your captain found my lamp and I appeared before him. I told him that I would grant him 3 wishes."

"He asked if I could bring the dead back to life. I told him I was unable to do that."

"He then asked if I could send him back in time. When I told him that I was able to do that his eyes lit up."

"Oh shit" Zoro said

"I can only guess what you are thinking, but do you have any ideas as to when I might have sent him?" The ghostly being said

"He couldn't have could he?" Sanji asked

"He didn't go back to Marineford did he?" Nami asked concerned

"No he went back much further than that."

"How much further are we talking?"

"He went back 13 years."

"HE DID WHAT?" Yelled the entire crew.

"I was able to create a portal through time and sent him back just by glancing at his memories of the time he wanted to go back to. I could tell that he was unhappy with how a few things turned out and he wished to correct them."

"I am sure you guys are aware of at least one of the things he was thinking about."

"Ace" was all the Straw Hats said still feeling guilty of not being able to help their captain when he needed them most.

"That is correct."

"There were a few other thing Luffy wished to change."

"Were you aware that Luffy believes he was responsible for Akagami losing his left arm?"

"We only knew that Luffy had a connection to Akagami, however he never told us the whole story. Neither one of them mentioned it when we met him not too long ago." Robin said

"Would you like to know what happened?"

"No." Zoro said bluntly

"It is not your place to tell us something about Luffy's past." Zoro said

The rest of Straw Hat crew nodded agreeing with Zoro even though they were curious.

"Is it safe to assume you guys met Sabo in Dressrosa?"

"If it has something to do with Luffy's past we would rather hear it from him." Sanji said before Zoro could say it again.

Zoro spoke up which surprised the rest of the Straw Hats

"Back on Dressrosa after Luffy got out of the Colosseum I remember him saying he thought he was dead. When I asked him who it was he was talking about he said it was his brother. At first I thought he was talking about Ace but that couldn't happen? He seemed to be happy even though he was crying."

"Without going into too much detail the way I understand it is that Luffy, Ace and Sabo were brothers. At least that is what Sabo told me when I met him." Robin said

"Ok, so we have a good idea why Luffy went back into the past. But we still don't know why he didn't tell us he was going to something this crazy." Nami said

At this point the eight remaining Straw Hats looked at the specter for answers.

"So now you want me to tell you what he was thinking." the specter said kind of annoyed

"Ok, fine"

"He didn't say it directly but I could tell he was worried about all of you."

"Without going into specifics he said that many of you have lived through events that he wouldn't have wanted you to experience all over again."

Robin thought about her years on the run from the government

Nami thought about losing Belle-mere and her years working under Arlong making maps

Brook thought about his years alone on a broken pirate ship floating through the ocean

Franky thought about when he had rejected his battle ships as his creations, the same ones that got his teacher Tom killed.

Sanji thought about starving up on the rock in the middle of the ocean with Zeff.

Chopper thought about Dr. Hiluluk

Zoro thought about losing Kuina

Usopp thought about losing his mother

They all had painful memories to varying degrees, but those moments in their lives shaped the people they would become.

After thinking about their pasts some of the Straw Hats started to cry namely Franky & Brook.

"I am not sure if I am happy or sad Mugiwara thought about us that much, trying to protect us from living that difficult part of our lives over again." Franky said after he had finished crying.

"He said something rather intelligent that kind of shocked me. You know what why don't I just show you." He said. With that he put his hands on his head and a screen like portal appeared in front of the Straw Hats. Once that was all set the ghostly figures memories started playing.

'_You seem to be ready to go are you sure you don't want to say goodbye.' Luffy shook his head side to side_

'_I don't want to worry them, besides what would they think if they knew I was doing something so reckless. It would be impossible to send us all back to the same place anyway as no one but me on the crew is from Foosha Village, their minds would have nowhere to go. Besides they all have things they need to learn where they are from, what would happen to them if they suddenly found themselves in their younger bodies. Sure some would be glad having all their knowledge and skills from today. But knowing how things would go for them in the years to come. How would that change the present or the new future? What would they think of me? Sure some might be glad but I can only imagine what it would be like for Nami, Robin & Brook. I don't want them to have to relive painful memories, all that loneliness, all over again. Knowing that I willingly made them relive their painful pasts would be too much for me, too much for them, I don't want them to hate me for a decision I am going to make that will affect them all. It will be better for them if they just don't remember. I did this all once. I can make it better for them all a second time around.' _

With that the memory stopped playing and the portal closed.

"Well what do you think?" The ghost asked

He couldn't see what was going on around him while he was projecting his memories of earlier that day. When he got a good look at the Straw Hats standing there he noticed that a good portion of them were crying to varying degrees. The only two who weren't visibly crying were Sanji and Zoro. But the ghost could tell that they were expressing themselves in their own way. Sanji was puffing on a new cigarette and Zoro was clutching his Wado Ichimonji.

"He is going through all of this again. He is going to help us all a second time and none of us are going to know that. We won't know what he has gone through. None of us will know what he will have to go through again. We won't be able to help to him." Nami said wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"He really is smarter than we give him credit for." Sanji said not trying to take a jab at a touching moment.

One by one the Straw Hats stopped crying, but they could all tell they were still shocked at what they had just seen.

"He did put a lot of thought into this." Nami said still rubbing her eyes.

"He has done so much for us and he is going to do it again. I won't accept that, I can't accept that. Isn't there something we can do?" Zoro spoke up still clutching Wado Ichimonji.

"Well technically he only used one wish so you do have two more." The ghost said.

"I can do the same thing I did to your captain two more times."

"Just letting you know that is an option."

"Can you give us some time to talk?" Zoro asked

"Of course this is rather difficult; I will give you as much time as you need."

"Thank you" Nami said and the eight pirates walked off to a nearby part of the treasure chamber.

"I for one do not want to let him be the only one to do this all over again. Imagine being in his position, knowing all of this stuff about each and every one of us." Zoro said

"What do you mean Zoro?" Usopp asked

"He is going to have all of these memories of us that we won't be able to share. Knowing him he is going to act exactly the same as he usually does. We are used to it now but think back to what we though of his personality when we first met him. I for one thought he was amusing but he could really get on your nerves sometimes. Now imagine someone who knows so much about you but can't just outright talk about events that you haven't brought up or events that haven't happened yet." Robin said trying make it as clear as possible

"Yeah, I for one don't want to forget all of the stuff we have been through with him. It has been difficult but look at where we are now. We are on Raftel we made it here and it was thanks to him that we are even together. We helped him complete his dream now he is helping us complete our dreams. How could we not do whatever was within our power to help our idiot captain." Sanji said

"If not for Luffy I would probably be dead"

"I would still be making maps for Arlong"

"I would probably be back in Syrup Village playing pirate."

"I would still be back on the Baratie"

"I would probably be back on Drum Island."

"I don't know where I would have gone after Alabasta"

"I would still be on Water Seven"

"I would still be in the Florian Triangle"

"It seems like it's unanimous, it sounds like we would do anything to help our captain." Nami said

"Yeah" was all they said as they began walking back toward the ghost.

They made their way back to the ghost

"You said you can send two more of us back the exact same way you sent out captain back?" Robin asked

"Yes, I can"

"What do you have to do to send us back?" Sanji asked taking a puff of his cigarette

"I will create a portal into the past from your memories. Your bodies from the past and your body from the present will merge together."

Some of the idiots thought about the failed docking attempt at Thriller Bark

"In other words your memories and knowledge you have retained up to today will be sent back into your past body while you retain some of your strength. Being younger will mean that you will only retain a percentage of your power. It will vary depending on how many years you go back into the past."

Now the pirates understood why Luffy didn't say anything to them and just jumped head first into adventure.

"He didn't want you to have to relive painful parts of your lives. He figured there would be some parts you would be better off not experiencing again."

"Even when he is doing something selfish like this he still puts a great deal of thought into how this would affect us." Nami said

"Can you tell how much time has passed for him?" Robin asked

"Well, looking at all of you I would say that he hasn't met any of you yet."

"What do you mean by that?" Sanji said

"I am just guessing based on your appearances and the way you carry yourselves."

"You forget I have all of Luffy's memories in my head right now."

"This is hardly an exact process. I am not really sure how long it would take for changes to make their way to this time."

"Seriously" Seven of the Eight Straw Hats said with shark teeth, Robin just chuckled

"So Straw Hats which of you gets to use the last two wishes?"

The eight remaining straw hats decided the only way fair way to determine who would get to use one of the two remaining wishes would be to draw straws. They tore a piece of paper into eight equal parts and marked two of them with red dots. Sanji held the bunch of eight pieces of paper. Once everyone had grabbed a piece they pulled away to reveal who would be making the remaining two wishes. It seemed like fate that the two to get the papers with the red dots were drawn by the people to join Luffy first.

Nami and Zoro had pulled the papers with the red dots

"Looks like Nami-san and the stray marimo are the winners." Sanji said

"Shut up ero cook." Zoro retorted in his usual fashion

The other Straw Hats were upset that they wouldn't be able to help their captain. He had done so much for them all.

"It seems fitting that the first two to join Luffy would be the two to pull the winning straws." Robin said

"I agree" Brook and Franky said simultaneously

"It pains me to say this but I would not be of very much help to Luffy-san as I was the last to join the crew"

"You traversed the Grand Line once I know you can do it again." Brook said

"It seems like anyone who joined the crew in the East Blue would be beneficial to Luffy." Robin said

"But we all have our own roles on this crew. It's not fair to say that just because four of us joined in the East Blue we would be any more helpful that anyone else." Nami said trying to make sure no would be upset with the results.

"You all seem like you genuinely want to help your captain with this endeavor" The ghostly being said

"Of course we want to help him." all eight remaining Straw Hats said

"He has done so much for us and we still haven't found a way to repay him for all that he has done for us." Nami said

"I think I know how you can all help your captain" the ghost said

"Really, how can we all help him?" Chopper asked enthusiastically

"Sending a person's mind and body back in time is very difficult to do."

"I know of a way for you all to help your captain without having to go back in time yourselves."

"It is really simple." The ghost began

"You all have something that you hold important to you? Correct?"

The eight straw hats nodded

"Well if you would allow me I can imprint your memories and knowledge into the items special to you and send that back in time. I can place items very precisely in the past. It is much easier to send an inanimate object back into time. A living person can be complicated."

After that explanation the seven other Straw Hats turned to Robin. She does spend a lot of time reading. They figured that she would at least be able to clarify what the ghost was talking about. Maybe she had come across something similar in one of the many books they see here reading.

"Would it be similar to an item like one of Zoro's swords being cursed? The item retains some of the person's spirit who possessed it. Except that this item isn't actually cursed."

Robin looked to the ghost for some sort of confirmation that at least she was on right track.

"That would be correct, for the most part."

"For this to work I need each of you to lend me an item of yours that holds significant personal value."

"It could be anything, as long as it is or was something special to you."

"Wait a second, If we give you these items and you send them back in time aren't they stuck there?" Usopp asked

"Normally yes, that would be the case. However for this I am just going to imprint your memories and knowledge onto the items. Once the item has served its purpose it will return to you here in your present."

"Once your past self has the item in their possession all of the memories and knowledge that were imprinted onto the item will become a part of them. However they don't just become available to you. They will "unlock" over time. But I can't be sure how long it will be before all of that information goes flowing into your heads."

"Do you all more or less understand?" The ghost asked

The eight straw hats nodded

"So for example, Chopper who uses his knowledge of medicine to make his rumble balls could take a giant leap forward in strength if he were able to make the ones he uses now?" Robin asked

"Yes that would be true, But…" the ghost was interrupted

"There is always a but." Usopp added trying to crack a joke

"Choppers Monster Point uses a lot more stamina than he might have when you first meet him. He might be able to learn to access most of his transformations without any rumble balls or maybe like now only need one to access his strongest form. It really is up to Chopper and how daring he is willing to be when this knowledge becomes available to him."

Quickly changing topics the ghost begins the next step to help the soon to be Straw Hats.

"Alright, so who has something important to them with them right now?"

"Me" said Zoro, Nami, Chopper, & Franky said

"So the rest of you go back to you ship and grab an item that is sentimental to you."

Usopp, Sanji, Robin, and Brook left the cave and went back to the Sunny to get an item that was special to them. A half an hour later they were back and the ghost was ready to begin.

The important items to each Straw Hat are:

Zoro: Kuina's katana the Wado Ichimonji

Nami: Nojiko's gold bracelet

Usopp: His old slingshot

Sanji: His favorite knife from his years with Zeff

Chopper: Dr. Hiluluk's pink hat

Robin: An old journal from her mother

Franky: His sunglasses

Brook: His violin he has had for decades

"Now that you all have your items we can get started."

"I can only do one at a time."

"Who will go first?"

Zoro stepped forward with his most prized possession in hand. Zoro was more upset about this than he was willing to let on. He could only hope the specter was right and that his sword would return to this time.

"Keep the item in your hands and think of a time when you are alone and will notice something out of place; this should preferably be a time before you met Luffy."

The specter placed one hand on Zoro's head and one on the item in their hands. After a few moments the item vanished into thin air.

Nami stepped forward and repeated the process

Followed by Usopp, then Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky and finally Brook.

"Now that the items have been sent back in time it is only a matter of time now." The ghost said

So now we go back in time to four years or so before any of the Straw Hats met their future captain.

Zoro is sitting at a bar eating his lunch in Shells Town. All of the sudden a duplicate of Kuina's Wado Ichimoji appears on the counter in front of him. The real one is resting up against the bar. However the one in front of him is calling out to him. He puts one hand on the handle and the other on the scabbard of the sword. He draws the sword out of the scabbard to reveal the brilliant blade.

Nami is in the middle of the ocean somewhere trying to come up with her next plan of attack. She is working on coming up with the last portion of the money she needs to buy back Cocoyashi village back from Arlong. All of the sudden a shiny gold bracelet resembling the ones Nojiko wears appears on the map she has in front of her. Like Zoro it calls out to her, telling her to put it on. So she does.

Usopp is in the middle of the woods relaxing by himself after another one of his famous lying sprees. He looks off to his right and notices his slingshot on the ground. He looks in his bag and his slingshot is in his bag where he left it. He hears it calling out to him so he picks up the slingshot out curiosity and begins to pull it back the band as if firing.

Sanji is working on a stew and dicing up vegetables with his favorite knife in the kitchen of the Baratie. Looking up from dicing he notices an exact duplicate of the knife he is using. It is on the magnetic strip in front of him. He hears it calling out to him. He puts down the knife he is using and reaches for the new one and begins dicing vegetables with it.

Chopper is in Drum Castle grinding plants he has collected for various medicines Dr. Kureha had taught him to make. He looks on the hooks near his desk and sees a pink and blue hat hanging there. He gets up from his work and goes to look at the strange hat he doesn't remember being there. Like the others it calls out to him. It is telling him to put it on. So he takes off his pink hat and puts on the pink and blue on.

Robin is alone reading in between missions for Baroque Works when she sees something she thought she had put away a long time ago. She puts her book down and reaches for the book with a gold NO on the spine. She can't resist and picks up the book, she begins flipping through the pages for old times' sake.

Franky is in the Franky House while his followers are off going about business on Water Seven somewhere. He notices the sunglasses that have appeared on the table he is sitting at. He looks at them and recognizes them to be his. He takes off the pair of sunglasses he is wearing and puts them on the table. Something is telling him to put them on this other pair. He complies with the mysterious request from nowhere.

Finally Brook. He is on the "Ghost" ship in the Florian Triangle. He is sipping a cup of tea from his cracked cup. All of the sudden his violin appears out of nowhere and is now just resting next to him. He instinctively picks it up and begins playing not remembering he didn't bring his violin outside with him.

One by one the items belonging to the future Straw Hats appear in the possession of their younger counterparts. They all felt something strange come over them when they noticed the items that had appeared out of thin air. The items once touched began the process of imprinting the memories and knowledge of their future selves into their younger minds. Once the process was complete and the items had fulfilled their intended purpose the items began to fade and not long after disappear altogether.

Once the items were gone and the younger soon to be Straw Hats had a little time to process all that had happened they felt something strange come over them. They had all of these thoughts racing through their heads. And one man was at the center of those thoughts. It was the young man who would become their captain, the man who would take them to the end of the Grand Line, the man who would become the King of the Pirates, more importantly he was the man who would bring them together and give them a place to belong, a place where they would not be judged for their past or past decisions.

There was also a longing to help a man they hadn't met yet but soon would. This man would change their lives. They felt inclined to join this man on his journey. Despite all their reasons not to they would do so because there was just no arguing with this idiot. Once he had decided on something there would be no changing his mind. Some of the soon to be Straw Hats began to get emotional for reasons foreign to them. They didn't understand the significance of the events playing in their minds. There was no way they would understand for some time. Almost as if finally remembering all of the things they have yet to do they call out to the man who would lead them to the end of the Grand Line and eventually to the end of the New World.

Zoro: "Luffy"

Nami: "Luffy"

Usopp: "Luffy"

Sanji: "Luffy"

Chopper: "Luffy"

Robin: "Luffy"

Franky: "Mugiwara"

Brook: "Luffy-san"

Some of the soon to be Straw Hats had to wipe the tears away from their eyes. They weren't sure why but they figured that they should not mention a single word of what just happened to anybody. And then just like that they couldn't remember why they were upset or what they had just learned. It was all gone. Along with the name of the man who would change their lives one day very soon. With the mysterious items gone the soon to be nakama got back to their lives. Or at least they tried. They just couldn't help but think that something very strange but very important just happened and that event would change their lives forever. Something in their minds was telling them that their lives were going to get interesting real soon and there would be no turning back after that. They realized that they were soon going to go on journey of a lifetime with friends that would be the next best thing to an actual family, dysfunctional as it may be.

Back in the cave on Raftel the Straw Hats personal items were beginning to reappear one by one. First Zoro's sword, followed by Nami's bracelet, then Usopp's slingshot, Sanji's knife, Chopper's hat, Robin's journal, Franky's sunglasses, and finally Brook's violin.

"Wow, the ghost was right our stuff came back." Nami said

"I am glad to have my sword back." Zoro said

Everyone nodded agreeing with Zoro.

"There would have been hell to pay if it got stuck in the past." Zoro said

"I am glad that all of your items made it back safely." The ghost said

"What now?" Franky asked

"What now? That is a good question." The ghost asked

"What do you mean?" seven Straw Hats said angrily with shark teeth minus Robin who was just laughing at the whole situation

"Well I don't do this that often so I am not sure what is going to happen next."

"Do we have any more wishes left?" Nami asked

"Technically you do have two wishes left since none of you actually wished for me to do this."

"Really, we do?" Chopper asked

"Technically yes you do, but I used the energy I would have used on your two wishes to send your items back in time with your memories and knowledge. I don't have the strength for your wishes anymore."

"How long will it be until you recover your strength?" Usopp asked

"That is a good question. It has been centuries since I have used all of this power."

"CENTURIES" The Straw Hats yelled in unison even Robin

"How long have you been in that lamp?" Usopp asked

"Oh, I would say around 800 years or so."

"What" they all said

"I was a human just like you. I remember having to do something important but that is all. I don't even remember my name."

"I am sure that one day I will remember who I was and what I was supposed to do. But I have a feeling that I am already too late."

"Well that was depressing" Usopp said

"Bastard" was all Sanji said as he kicked him in the head.

"I hate to change the subject, but can you create a portal into the past for us?" Nami asked

"I can't send you back if that is what you are asking."

"No of course not, I was just wondering if we could see how Luffy is progressing on his journey." Nami said

"That, I can do."

"Thank you"

With that the ghost grabbed the air in front of him and tore open a large window into the past. Through it they could see Luffy defeating a small sea king. They all watched on as Luffy went forward for the second time.

* * *

><p>horacionquinter0: I try to update around once a week. It will likely be anytime from friday to sunday.<p>

asluffy: I will try to change stuff up from the manga. I hope this chapter will kind of give you an idea of what i am planning.


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